48th IFFI: A look at this year's International Competition

The 2017 International Film
Festival of India (IFFI) is being organized from November 20-28, 2017 at Goa. And,
away from all the glamour and razzmatazz, serious moviegoers will have their
eyes on the IFFI mainstay, the International Competition, which carries a cumulative cash prize of over
INR 1 crore. This year, a total of 15 films from across the globe would be
competing for the Golden and Silver Peacock awards.

Renowned
Indian filmmaker Muzaffar Ali heads the jury. He is joined by Actor-Director
Tzahi Grad from Israel, Russian Cinematographer Vladislav Opelyants, Production
Designer Roger Christian from the United Kingdom, and Festival director Maxine
Williamson from Australia.

The
complete line up of films completing in the International Competition is as
follows:

1. Ana, mon
amour

Director: Cãlin Peter Netzer

Country: (Romania-Germany-France)

2. BPM (120
battements par minute)

Director: Robin Campillo

Country: (France)

3. Angels
Wear White

Director: Vivian Qu

Country: (China)

4. Racer and
the Jailbird (Le Fidèle)

Director: Michaël R. Roskam

Country: (Belgium-Netherlands-France)

5. Dark
Skull (Viejo Calavera)

Director: Kiro Russo

Country: (Bolivia-Qatar)

6. Freedom
(Freiheit)

Director: Jan Speckenbach

Country: (Germany-Slovakia)

7. The Great
Buddha +

Director: Huang Hsin-Yao

Country: (Taiwan)

8. Blank 13

Director: Takumi Saito

India: (Japan)

9. Marionette

Director: Lee Han-Uk

India: (South Korea)

10. Still
Night Still Light (Mes nuit feront echo)

Director: Sophie Goyette

India: (Canada-China-Mexico)

11. Shuttle
Life (Fen BeiRen Sheng)

Director: Tan SengKiat

India: (Malaysia)

12. A Man of
Integrity (Lerd)

Director: Mohammad Rasoulof

India: (Iran)

13. Kachcha Limbu

Director: Prasad Oak

Country/Language: (India-Marathi)

14. Take Off

Director: Mahesh Narayan

Country/Language: (India-Malayalam)

15. Village
Rockstars

Director: Rima Das

Country/Language: (India-Assamese)

Even a cursory look at the above
lineup of films is enough to tell that the competition this year is quite
stiff. When asked to share his predictions, Jugu Abraham, a former staff film critic
of the Hindustan Times Group in the late 70s and early 80s who currently runs a
popular blog on world cinema, said: “Three
top films in competition are those by Netzer, Campillo and Rasoulof. Between
them they should sweep the awards.”

While Ana, mon amour, A Man of
Integrity, and BPM are certainly strong contenders, the other films in the
competition are quite capable of running them a run for their money. For now
all that can be said is that Muzaffar
Ali and team have a tough task on hand.